կաղամախի

• կաղամախ (kaġamax)

Learned borrowing from Old Armenian կաղամախի (kałamaxi).

• (Eastern Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [kɑʁɑmɑχí]
• (Western Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [ɡɑʁɑmɑχí]
• Hyphenation: կա‧ղա‧մա‧խի

կաղամախի • (kaġamaxi)

1. Eurasian aspen, Populus tremula[1][2]

   Synonym: բարդի դողդոջուն (bardi doġdoǰun)

   Hypernym: բարդի (bardi)

• կաղամախասունկ (kaġamaxasunk)

• կաղամախ (kałamax), կաղամահ (kałamah), կաղամաղ (kałamał), կաղմախ (kałmax), կամաղախ (kamałax)

Usually considered a borrowing from an unidentified source.[1][2]

Ačaṙean connects with similar words in languages of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, namely Salmas Azerbaijani kələmbur (“white poplar”), Tabriz Azerbaijani qələmə (“poplar”), Lak кӏялахӏи (kʼaˤlaħi, “poplar”), and assumes common borrowing into the languages of the region from a lost Urartian or Old Median word. He remarks that the homeland of the tree is unknown but that it spread eastward in view of Tehrani Persian تبریزی (tabrizi, “of or belonging to Tabriz; poplar-tree”),[3] but according to Hacaloğlu, the latter is the black poplar, Populus nigra.[4]

Saradževa, based on J̌ahukyan's personal communication, adduces also the Hesychian gloss καλαμίνδαρ (kalamíndar, “πλάτανος ἡδονιεῖς = plane-tree according to Edoni”), which is usually taken as a Thracian word of unknown origin, obviously containing *dar (“tree”) from Proto-Indo-European *dóru as the second component.[5] Saradževa further compares Hesychian καλαδία (kaladía, “ῥυκάνη = plane-tree”).[5] She assumes a borrowing from a Mediterranean substrate for all these words.

Martirosyan connects also dialectal Ararat Armenian կալամա ծառ (kalama caṙ), քալամբըռ (kʻalambəṙ) and considers կաղամ-ախ(-ի) (kałam-ax(-i)) a Mediterranean/Pontic tree name composed of *kalam- and a "tree-suffix" -ախ (-ax).[6][7] He explains the Azerbaijani parallel by dissimilation from *kalam-dar (again with *dar (“tree”)) → *kalam-bar, but this is based on the unreliable Salmas Azerbaijani form kälämbär quoted by Ačaṙean.

The following forms usually are not cited in the literature, but clearly are related: dialectal Nakhijevan Azerbaijani kələnbir, kələmbir (“a kind of tree, probably aspen”), South Azerbaijani کلنبوُر (kələnbur), کلمپور (kələmpur, “Tilia”), göy qələmə (“white poplar”). Moreover, Azerbaijani qələmə (“poplar”) given by Ačaṙean is much more widespread than assumed by him and has the additional meaning ‘plane-tree’ in dialects. The supposed Rutul form kalax ‘poplar’ cited by Ačaṙean based on Erckert[8] does not exist in modern materials on the language and should be amended to къавах (“poplar”) and joined with Lezgi къавах (q̄avaχ, “poplar”) and other Caucasian forms cited by J̌ahukyan,[9] all of which, however, should be removed from comparison as recent Turkic borrowings.

In reality, probably a Northeast Caucasian borrowing, from a native Northeast Caucasian compound containing a word for ‘white’ of the form *kala- or similar (compare inherited Lak кӏяла (kʼaˤla, “white”)) and a certain tree name, perhaps ‘poplar’, or even simply ‘wood, timber’ or ‘tree’: compare Chechen мах (max, “aspen”), Ingush мих (mix), миха (mixa, “aspen; poplar”), Avar мах (max, “birch”), in oblique cases махи- (maxi-), Lak мархъ (marq, “poles for planking the ceiling; birch”), мурхь (murx̂, “tree”), мак (mak, “softwood”), dialectal махъ (maq, “birch”), гьи (hi, “birch”), Tsez мей (mey), ме (me, “birch”), Budukh мерх (merx, “birch”), Dargwa махъ (maq, “birch”), Chechen маъ (maʔ, “alder”), Ingush миинг (miı̇ng, “alder”), мехинг (mexing), михинг (mixing, “poplar”) etc. For the middle element of καλα-μίν-δαρ (kala-mín-dar) compare especially the quoted Ingush forms. For the final element of Armenian կալա-մա (kala-ma), Azerbaijani qələ-mə compare Chechen маъ (maʔ, “alder”), Tsez мей (mey, “birch”). The unetymologized Ancient Greek καλαμίνθη (kalamínthē, “a good-smelling plant”) may contain the same *kala- ‘white’; for the second part compare the Kulturwort Armenian մանդակ (mandak).

Such a compound is represented by Lak кӏялахӏи (kʼaˤlaħi), кӏяла-гьи (kʼaˤla-hi, “birch; possibly aspen, poplar”). See it for more.

For most of the above and many other Caucasian tree designations Nikolayev / Starostin reconstruct three separate Proto-Northeast Caucasian roots with reflexes in modern languages which are similar and tend to contaminate.[10][11][12]

For tree names formed from a color compare Martirosyan 2010: “[the poplar, aspen, linden, plane] display a similar etymological pattern involving a semantic derivation from ideas like ‘shiny, bright’ and ‘pure’... The connection is based on the bright whiteness of the birchbark.”[13] Note also the names of Populus alba in other languages, which contain the word for ‘white’ or ‘silver’: Azerbaijani göy qələmə, ağca-qovaq, Turkish ak-kavak, Jewish Literary Aramaic לְבָן (ləḇān), לְבַן (ləḇan, “white poplar”) from the root ל־ב־ן (l-b-n, “white”), Classical Syriac ܚܘܪܐ (ḥawrā), Arabic حَوْر (ḥawr) belonging to the root ܚ-ܘ-ܪ (ḥ-w-r), ح و ر (ḥ-w-r) meaning “contrasting by white”, Russian то́поль серебри́стый (tópolʹ serebrístyj, literally “silvery poplar”), Central Kurdish سپیدار (spîdar, literally “white tree”), English white poplar. Note also Kabardian пхъэхуей (pχɛxʷujej, “birch”, literally “wood-white”).

կաղամախի • (kałamaxi)

1. a species of poplar, namely white poplar, Populus alba and/or Eurasian aspen, Populus tremula
   • 5th century, Bible, Isaiah 41.19:

     Եւ բղխեցուցից յանջուր երկրին զմայրն եւ զտօսախն, զմուրտն եւ զնոճն եւ զսօսն, զսարդն եւ զսարոյն եւ զկաղամախն, զգին եւ զփայտն իւղոյ։

     Ew błxecʻucʻicʻ yanǰur erkrin zmayrn ew ztōsaxn, zmurtn ew znočn ew zsōsn, zsardn ew zsaroyn ew zkałamaxn, zgin ew zpʻaytn iwłoy.

     I will produce in the dry land the cedar and box, the myrtle and cypress and plane, the cedar and cypress and white poplar, the juniper and the olive wood.

   • 5th century, Bible, Hosea 4.13:

     […] ի ներքոյ կաղնեաց եւ կաղամախեաց եւ վարսաւոր ծառոց […]

     […] i nerkʻoy kałneacʻ ew kałamaxeacʻ ew varsawor caṙocʻ […]

     […] under oaks and white poplars and leafy trees […]

   • 5th century, Agatʻangełos, Patmutʻiwn Hayocʻ [History of the Armenians] § 644:

     որպէս մայրն և նոճն և շոճն ե թեղօշն և սարդն և սարոյն և սոսն և յակրին և գին և կաղամախն և ուռին և տօսախն։

     orpēs mayrn ew nočn ew šočn e tʻełōšn ew sardn ew saroyn ew sosn ew yakrin ew gin ew kałamaxn ew uṙin ew tōsaxn.

   • 6th–12th? centuries, Baṙkʻ Gałianosi [The Greek–Armenian Dictionary to Galen]
2. possibly pine
   • 5th century, Bible, 2 Chronicles 2.8:

     Եւ տացես բերել ինձ փայտս սարոյն մայր և կաղամախ ի Լիբանան լեռնէ […]

     Ew tacʻes berel inj pʻayts saroyn mayr ew kałamax i Libanan leṙnē […]

     Send me also cypress, cedar and kałamax wood out of Mount Lebanon […]

   • 5th century, Basil of Caesarea, Yałags Vecʻawreay ararčʻutʻean [Homiliae in Hexaemeron] , (1830 edition, page 93):

     Ապա եթէ ոք միտ եդեալ մեղմով ուշ ի կուրծսն, կամ սերմանիս կամ այլ ինչ նման սերմանց գտանէ ի ծառսն, ի սօսքն և կնձնիք և ի կաղամախիքն, և այլ բազում ծառք՝ որ նոցին նմանք են, պտուղ իմն ունին թանձրախիտ տերևօք․

     Apa etʻē okʻ mit edeal mełmov uš i kurcsn, kam sermanis kam ayl inčʻ nman sermancʻ gtanē i caṙsn, i sōskʻn ew knjnikʻ ew i kałamaxikʻn, ew ayl bazum caṙkʻ, or nocʻin nmankʻ en, ptuł imn unin tʻanjraxit terewōkʻ;

The identification of the tree species has been disputed. In Isaiah, Hosea and Galen translates Ancient Greek λεύκη (leúkē, “white poplar”). In Agatʿangełos found in an enumeration of tree-names, between գի (gi, “juniper”) and ուռի (uṙi, “willow”). In 2 Paralipomenon corresponds to Ancient Greek πεύκη (peúkē, “pine”) in a set of three tree names;[6] this seems to be corroborated by the attestation in Hexaemeron.[6] Still, the identification with "pine" is not conclusive. Among modern scholars Ketikean (apud Ačaṙean) and Łazarean identify with Populus tremula,[3][14] Artʿinean with Populus alba,[15] Mēnēvišean (apud Ačaṙean) with Populus pyramidalis,[3] whereas Diratzouyan with the whole genus Populus.[16]

• Middle Armenian: կաղմխի (kaġmxi)
  • Armenian: կաղմխի (kaġmxi) — Mush, գախմխի (gaxmxi) — Khotorjur
• → Armenian: կաղամախ (kaġamax)

• Ališan, Ġewond (1895) “կաղամախ”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʻiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 1269, pages 285–286
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836) “կաղամախի”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), volume I, Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, page 1037a
• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “կաղամախի”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, page 320b